Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 68
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
व्याकुले समपद्येतां वर्षासु सरिताविव । जैसे वर्षाकालमें दो नदियाँ एक-दूसरीके जलसे भरकर व्याकुल-सी हो उठती हैं, उसी प्रकार आपसकी मार खाती हुई वे दोनों सेनाएँ अत्यन्त संतप्त हो उठीं ।।
vyākule samapadyetāṁ varṣāsu saritāv iva | āviveśa tatas tīvraṁ tāvakānāṁ mahad bhayam | pāṇḍavānāṁ ca rājendra tathābhūte mahāhave ||
Sañjaya said: Like two rivers in the rainy season, swollen by each other’s waters and churning in turbulence, the two armies, striking one another, became intensely distressed. Then, O king, in that great battle, a fierce and overwhelming fear entered both your warriors and the Pāṇḍavas as the fight took that dreadful form—showing how war’s momentum can engulf all sides in the same terror and suffering.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights war’s equalizing cruelty: once violence escalates, fear and anguish seize both sides alike. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict does not preserve security for ‘one’s own’—it spreads suffering across all combatants.
Sañjaya describes the battle’s intensity: the two armies clash so violently that they resemble two rain-swollen rivers colliding in turbulence. As the fight becomes dreadful, a powerful fear grips both the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava warriors.
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